There are three qualifications grades of specialists dealing with accounting documents and prepared tax returns in the USA.

• Accountant
• Certified Public Accountant
• Tax Lawyer

They differ by the level of education, certification and price. The most important thing for you to know is that if you use the services of an accountant and you have some problems with tax authorities, you are responsible for everything and you will have to deal with tax authorities yourself.

However if you use services of a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), you can just sign a report prepared by the CPA on the basis of the information you provided. In case of any problems with tax authorities, it is the CPA who will deal with all the issues and communications. In case of inspection or a personal meeting, you must be there but you do not have to say anything. CPA will do all the talking for you. Tax legislation in the USA is very strict and complicated – you do not have to know it.

If you work with a tax lawyer, you do not have to worry about anything at all (except money, of course). The tax lawyer will resolve all your issues and there is no need for you to be there or take part in the process.

For small companies tax lawyers are a bit too expensive. So a CPA is the best solution. Of course, the CPA should not deal with all accounting. It can be done by a regular accountant. I.e. for you the optimal solution (financially) would be to have an accountant who does all the preparation work and accounts, and a CPA who takes care of reporting.

So what does a CPA do? A CPA:

• prepares tax returns for tax authorities of all levels;
• carries out independent business appraisal and audits;
• takes care of accounting and the necessary reporting for governmental bodies;
• takes care of accounting and the reporting for non-governmental bodies;
• takes care of accounting and the reporting for companies.

The US tax system is quite complicated and confusing. At the same time there is a huge number of various tax loopholes and governmental support of businesses. Do not ignore CPA services. This is exactly the case when saving pennies can lead to huge losses and problems.

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